A Light Snack
by xZig-zagx
Summary: Kenshin finds something good to eat while training with Hiko.


"Wrong baka deishi!"

Kenshin cringed inwardly at his master's harsh tone. Or was that the ache in his shoulders? Whichever it was he didn't think it mattered. He was tired and hungry, not to mention sore. He had learn not to complain, that only brought on more pain from his master, so he listened quietly as Hiko explained the technique once more. He concentrated on what his master was saying. He'd show that arrogant, pompous, little… no, no. Now was the time to focus if he wanted to get this right.

"Now watch carefully, this is the last time I'll explain it to you." Hiko raised his sword, tip pointing towards the ground. "Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu Doryusen, uses the power of your arm and momentum of your swing. However, it also requires leg strength to follow through and stay standing, which you…" he quirked an eyebrow in amusement. "Seem to keep neglecting."

Kenshin's own eyebrow quirked in annoyance. That had only been once… alright, maybe twice, where he found himself on his back, sword stuck deeply in the ground. Hiko however made it sound like it happened every time. He bit his tongue, they had skipped lunch practicing this move - well _he_ had to skip lunch. At this point Kenshin just wanted to get this move down well enough that Hiko would allow him to rest and eat.

"Now, do it again."

Kenshin nodded his head, determination set in his eyes. He took a deep breath and began the move, taking a small running start to get his momentum going. With a yell he plunged the tip of his sword into the ground, only too deep, soon he felt his arms snap backwards as his sword abruptly stopped. His fingers lost their grip on the hilt and he felt himself falling towards the ground. His chin scraped hard against the ground, exploding in pain. With a wince he sat up and tenderly touched his chin as he heard Hiko mumbling about worthless apprentices.

With a sigh Kenshin slowly got to his feet and took hold of his sword that was currently standing erect in the ground. He gave it a pull, but it didn't budge. He could clearly picture Hiko rolling his eyes behind him. He pulled again, still the sword refused to move.

"Surely you're not _that_ weak, baka deishi."

"Shishou I'm _tired!_" Kenshin snapped back, yanking even harder on the sword. It popped out and he hadn't been expecting it to. With a surprised yelp, Kenshin found himself on the ground again.

Hiko snorted. "Tired, eh?" Kenshin groaned, he knew what was coming now. "You're not stopping until you get this move right. So forget about dinner until then." With that said, Hiko turned his back on his groaning student and made his way back to the hut. Just because Kenshin wasn't eating didn't mean he couldn't. After all, _he_ knew how to do a proper Doryusen.

Kenshin sighed and fell backwards on his back and stared at the sky. He was so tried, and Hiko was such a jerk. After a few minutes of feeling sorry for himself he sat up and glared in the general direction of the hut. How come Hiko could eat and he couldn't. It's not like Hiko had been working as hard as he was after all. How was he suppose to keep his strength and energy up without some food!

"I'll show him." He growled angrily to himself, getting to his feet. "He just wants to torture me." He made his way to the edge of the forest. There was plenty of things he could find to eat there. Hiko had once shown him different things that were edible and things that were poisonous. He'd just eat a little something, then get back to working on his Doryusen. He just needed something to keep him going.

He walked quickly through the trees looking for anything he knew to be editable. The first thing he spotted were some mushrooms growing near a fallen tree. He inspected the mushrooms carefully, trying to remember if these were ones Hiko had said were editable. He thought so and placed one into his mouth, testing it. He waited a bit to see if his mouth would become tingly or feel like it was burning. Neither happen, in fact it tasted pretty good.

He chewed what he had in his mouth and swallowed. His empty stomach thanked him, so he popped another into his mouth, and another, and another, and another until they were all gone. He smiled happily. That'd would show Hiko! Make him skip lunch and dinner, he'd get his own food! A small chuckle rose in his throat as he imaged what he thought would be a shocked look on Hiko's face. He had never actually seen a look like that on his master's face, but it was just so funny he started laughing.

He laughed and laughed and laughed. He laughed so hard his stomach began to hurt. He fell to his side, clutching his aching stomach, unable to stop laughing. He didn't care, he was having too much fun.

That's where Hiko found him, nearly half an hour later. On the forest floor, laughing, crying, and Hiko was sure he had finally driven the boy mad. Walking up he light poked his foot into Kenshin's ribs, gaining another loud burst of laughter from the youth. For a moment Hiko was confused until he found a couple mushrooms Kenshin hadn't seen and devoured. Hiko muttered a curse under his breath. Kids.

His cursed brought forth another round of laughter from Kenshin. "Shishou… Shishou! Remember that sake jar you liked so much, but can't remember where you put it! I broke it!" More roaring laughter. "And then I buried the pieces!" He clutched his stomach as more tears stung his eyes. It hurt so much but he couldn't stop.

Hiko sighed and rolled his eyes. Standing up he grabbed his student by the collar and dragged him towards the hut. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

The next morning Kenshin awoke to terrible pains in his stomach. It felt as if someone had repeatedly punched him there for hours. Not to mention his arms and legs were still stiff and sore from yesterday's practice. Hurting all over he sat up carefully and got out of bed, wondering how he had gotten there. All he could remember from last night was finding the mushrooms and feeling really happy. 

He looked towards Hiko's futon and found it empty. Wondering only briefly to his master's whereabouts Kenshin stiffly got to his feet and carefully walked to the bathroom. His pounding muscles taking away all his attention he almost didn't even hear the sudden racket of thousands of rocks flying his way or his master yell: Doryusen!

The next thing Kenshin knew he was on his back again, Hiko smirking over him. "Shishou! What was that for!" He cried, angry, hurt, sore, and not to mention confused.

"My sake jar." Hiko dropped a mushroom onto Kenshin's chest. "Nice to know you don't listen to me. Otherwise you wouldn't have eaten so many of these laughing mushrooms." Kenshin groaned, rubbing his eyes. So _that's_ why everything had seemed so funny. Last night's events became a little more clear now. What else had he told Hiko last night?

"Get up baka deishi." Hiko said with a trace of amusement in his voice. "You had so much trouble learning Doryusen yesterday, I thought today I would spend most of the day _showing_ it to you."

Kenshin's face went white. It was going to be a long painful day, but at lest he knew **_never_** to eat those mushrooms again. In fact, he'd never eat another mushroom ever, he'd stick with fruit.

**A/N:** This was written for June's challenge of Fruit for live journal's rk challenge community. I wrote this in the middle of the night after being unable to sleep… so I think that's why I thought a mushroom was a fruit. It wasn't until a few days after writing that I remembered it's a fungus… hehe… opps?


End file.
